Tomorrow is bearing day!!!

[chris]

Any certified mechanic can do this. Camping World or any RV Service location should have the parts handy and get it done that day. Figure on $35-$50 per wheel, unless there are other issues.
Ct..

If you don't do this job yourself, where do you find someone that can repack the bearings? We are in the Elkhart area at the moment but heading to NC. Thanks

[chris]

Thanks Renee, I'm going to steal that idea.
Ct..

I was gonna suggest pics, Chris. Make sure you post them!
Chris, we may need a "how to section" on this forum so we can easily find tips and such from owners who do their own maintenance, etc. What do you think?

[chris]

The red arrow shows where the grease comes out that you can use the zerk fitting for. The yellow arrow shows where the grease broke through the seal most likely.

The left rear brakes.

Left rear drum

Left front brakes

Left front drum

They're all pretty consistent. No surprises other than the surprise of "No wonder my brakes don't work!". My guess is that they lubed the bearings through the zerk fitting at assembly of the axle.
Ct..

[TucsonJim]

Oh boy. I can't put it off any longer now after seeing that mess. What did you use to clean it up Chris?

[Justaguy]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chris]

For the brakes, I use brake cleaner, which is also good for doing the bearings as well. Gasoline or carb cleaner works well for the bearings. The nice thing about carb cleaner is that it comes in a can with a cleaner bucket. You can dip the bucket and work to get some of the grease off. The best thing for the hub is paper towel.
Ct..

[S.Mine]

When I had that much grease in my drums I used gas to clean them. It would take alot of carb cleaner to clean up that much grease. Good find. is there way way to put in a double seal on there? They are just a little wider but it is double the protection.
Great write up on this. Also nothing like the old school way of packing bearings only way to go !!

[chris]

If you hand pack them you'll be fine. If you don't know how to hand pack, hit the www.lci1.com page and look it up under customer service videos. Hand packing isn't hard. Getting one of the mechanical packers is fine too. I wouldn't worry about double packing, just not OVER packing. Every 3K miles, I am going to pull the wheels, have them balanced, and put 2 pumps in the zerks. That will keep them maintained until you get back to them. My auto shop teacher taught me to put a bit in the middle between inner and outer to keep the outer fresh.

I am seriously looking forward to GREAT brakes this weekend. We're heading to Ouray from Albuquerque. Anyone who has towed the million dollar highway knows what I mean.

[photogent]

Just have 150 miles on my 369rl but this is wonderful information. I've done boat trailers and replaced the bearings due to water intrusion but resolved that problem with the installation of bearing buddies. I did the same with horse trailers and never had a problem with water or grease nor bearing failure again. Wish they would put disks on the rig just to make life a little easier.

[chris]

Okay, so here's an update. I purchased 4 new backing plate assembly's from a local distributor today. They're Dexter, and made in the USA. The benefit of going with the backing plate assembly is that everything is set for you. You will still need to adjust the brakes upon installation but a much easier solution. New shoes - $34. New backing plates - $67. But they include new magnets and are all lubed up. Not that my previous backing plates were lacking any grease. (It's a joke son...a Ha Ha...A funny!) I am going to take the drums to NAPA and have them hot tanked. That's going to be the best way to get them cleaned. The grease is so impregnated into the magnet and the shoe surfaces, that I think this will be best.

I have the new seals, and will put the new backing plates on tomorrow. After pulling the seals and the inner bearings, there was a LOT of grease. My shop teacher always told us to grease properly, but not too much. Hard to say if this was too much or not.

For those of you that have reached a year or 12K miles, It's a good idea to do. If your's aren't as bad as mine, then you can probably get away with replacing the seals and repacking the bearings. I would recommend spraying brake cleaner on the shoes, wire brushing them, and spraying the inside of the drum, just to be safe.

I'll be taking more pictures upon re-assembly because everything will be clean. I will post them and put them into the first "How to" section post (Thanks Renee.) It will be easier to show in reverse than to try and use these dirty parts as the example.
Ct..